Date

Circa 1910

Pre-Columbian Maya site in the Puuc region of the Northern Maya Lowlands of Yucatán, Mexico. It flourished c. AD 800-c. 1000, at the end of the Late Classic period (c. AD 600-c. 900) and the beginning of the Early Post-Classic period (c. AD 900-c. 1200), but was also occupied earlier. Among the best-known structures, the names of which are all post-Spanish Conquest attributions, are the Palace (or House) of the Governor, the Temple (or Pyramid) of the Magician (El Adivino) and the Nunnery Quadrangle. The beautiful proportions and design of the Palace of the Governor have long been admired. According to Harry Pollock (1980, p. 242), this 'magnificent building is thought by many to be the finest example of pre-Columbian architecture in the Americas'. The palace, a multi-roomed, rectangular building (c. 100 m long) with a symmetrical layout, sits on a large artificial platform. Puuc style has emphasis on decorated walls above the medial mouldings or cornices, repetitive stone mosaic decorations with stylized geometric or naturalistic designs, stone mosaic masks above doorways, decorated roof-combs and carefully cut stone veneer masonry.